1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of butchering, and more particularly to an apparatus for severing the wing joints of chicken wings online (i.e., without the wings first having been removed from the breasts) to produce cleanly cut wing segments.
2. Description of the prior art
There are some generally related devices in this field of endeavor. Prior U.S. Patents of interest include No. 2,243,951--Gehlke, No. 3,639,945--Duncan et al., No. 4,016,624--Martin et al., No. 4,424,608--Martin, No. 4,503,587--Martin, No. 4,536,919--Cashwell et al., No. 4,563,791--Martin Et al., No. 4,577,368--Hazenbroek, No. 4,597,136--Hazenbroek, and No. 4,769,872--Hazenbroek et al.
Some prior inventors have addressed the problem of automatically locating the wing joints, prior to cutting--see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,872, in which a wing is positioned on a fixture that tends to locate the joints properly. Problems of adaptability to different wing sizes are apparent with this approach. There have been various other approaches, frequently resulting in complex machinery and imprecise operation. For these reasons, an improved on-line wing cutting device is still needed.